Description This delightful steampunk/fantasy style combo by surrealist Joseph Maas is sure to delight, entertain and enhance the space of any office, retail establishment or residence.Please visit http://artbyJosephMaas.com for larger views of this image and to view other works by Joseph Maas.

Joseph Maas, Middletown, CAMember Since October 2011Artist Statement I can't say how pleased I am to offer these works to you. Each piece is quite literally a lifetime in the making. From the time while in the sixth grade when my artwork placed first in a state-wide (Kansas) youth art competition, to my years of technical and book cover illustration work for Addison Wesley, McGraw Hill and others, I have never before been so elated to exhibit and share my work with you today.

My pen and brush has long since lived inside the computer which is now connected to a continuously running "render farm". For many years I have been employing the tools that are principally designed for the creation of backdrops and scenery for the cinema. I use these same tools exclusively to develop high detail "stills", artworks that are destined for museum quality giclée prints. But the technology that I use has never been of primary importance. Aside from the mechanics of art production, and even beyond the sense of color harmony, space and composition, it's the STORY described by the art that really counts. In this regard I've been in the art field long enough to realize that the story which is revealed by the art can be both intentional and unintentional. By the latter I mean unintentionally arising from the artist's subconscious combined with the point in history in which the art was created. To the contrary, the more one attempts to restrict the artwork to the initial theme/plan/story, the more rigid and lifeless the final product can become. Creation always resides in the moment. In this artist's humble opinion it is this receptive approach that can be the primary difference between a mere illustration and an artistic masterpiece.

I delve into the execution of every artwork in much the same way a novelist writes a story. It has been noted, every great literary work begins with a concept (of course), but then the author follows the character through the story in a near passive manner until the story reaches its natural conclusion. During this process the story can unfold in ways which are unexpected, even to the writer. As for my own work, though every art project is grounded with a firm concept at the beginning, it is this "following" during the development process that will nearly always endow the art with a magic that otherwise would never have been present, or at least this is my highest hope when creating art. When a work takes on this "life of its own", I believe it is almost certain to inspire, delight and entertain for many years and perhaps generations to come.

Please feel free to share your thoughts with me. You are heartily invited to post comments on the various pages here, use the contact form, or just send me 'ol fashioned email (see my web site for more contact info). I'm usually always here in the studio, and I always enjoy a good conversation.